Their information comes from Double Helix Cables, where a friend actually had a hands-on experience with the fake accessory. Here's what they had to say:

"Opening up the box and out pops this stinker. I did a double take because it looked like a prank, prop, or placeholder of some sort. The lightning plug on the dock looks like a damn piece of cardboard, if you can even call it that. Because it's a cardboard-like chunk of circuit board that supposedly is going to fit into my iPhone 5."

The reviewer goes on to write about the the fact that dock's cutout "isn't remotely close to being iPhone 5 shaped," and then elaborates on the "home brewed lightning plug [...] which 100% doesn't fit."

A critic of the phoney dock took major issue with its "home brewed lightning plug"

This lovely critique then ends with the writer concluding that any "further effort to make this non functional dock [work] would probably damage my iPhone."

Granted, Apple doesn't actually make a dock accessory for the iPhone 5, yet. But that's no reason for third party manufacturers to start churning out ones that simply don't work.

Many would be more than happy to produce a suitable iPhone 5 dock that actually functions, especially if they don't have to compete with Apple itself. There are plenty of fun third party iPhone 5 gadgets out there that not only work, but work really well.

And, in our opinion, there's no excuse for this kind of blatant BS when so many companies have been able to turn a dollar making affordable and functional iPhone accessories that consumers actually want.

Branded as the official James Bond Skyfall phone, Sony's XPeria TL arrives at AT&T November 2

Dubbed the "Official James Bond Phone," the latest in Sony's XPeria Lineup, the Xperia TL, will be swaggering into AT&T stores as of November 2.

In pretty hyperbolic style and promising to "give everyday people the chance to live like James Bond," the AT&T press release promised to make the new smartphone available for $99.99, so long as you sign a 2 year contract.

According to Engaget, the device has quite a lot going for it, despite the fact that its "materials feel cheap." For one, it's got a 1.5GHz dual-core S4 processor as well as NFC capabilities.

Aside from that, AT&T just couldn't help reminding us all (for what seems like the thousandth time) that the Xperia TL is "featured in the upcoming James Bond cinema release Skyfall [and] will be used in the film by 007 himself."

But just in case you didn't get the message, they've preloaded the device with tons of Skyfall content like "behind the scenes footage, interviews, clips, wallpapers, ring tones, and more."

Though we have a hard time believing that any smartphone can ever really let someone "live like James Bond," we have to admit the XPeria TL at least looks slick enough to be something Bond would carry.

Samsung has been promoting the "Next Big Thing", and this time it’s the Galaxy Note 2. The phone was launched yesterday at Samsung's Galaxy Note II World Tour 2012 press event. T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and Verizon will all be carrying it. Just considering cost, timing and coverage, which service provider should get your business?

The Galaxy Note 2 has 4G LTE capability, and you don’t want it to go to waste. While Verizon beats all the competition for nationwide 4G LTE coverage (370+ markets), AT&T is rapidly expanding their 4G LTE network and is adding to their network all the time (approximately 65 markets.) Sprint basically covers Atlanta and big cities in Texas (15 markets) with their 4G LTE, the rest is 3G. T-Mobile doesn’t yet have 4G LTE connectivity, but they advertise their network as “4G”, which is really a supercharged 3G (HSPA+ 42) network.

For those buying an unlocked Galaxy Note 2, here’s a heads-up. The unlocked version isn’t compatible with CDMA carriers and LTE networks.

There’s no doubt that the Galaxy Note 2 is a fine smartphone. Its 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display is the big reason it’s being called a “phablet” – part phone, part tablet. In a nod to its tablet-ness, the Note 2 is the only smartphone that comes with a stylus that Samsung calls the” S Pen.” For those of us with big fingers or who are touchscreen accuracy-challenged, a stylus sure comes in handy.

Inside the Galaxy Note 2, you’ll find a quad-core 1.6GHz Exynos processor, up to 16GB of storage space (with expansion up to 64GB), and 2GB of RAM. On the back is a high-quality 8MP camera with an LED flash, and on the front a 1.9MP camera for video calls. The camera can record video in 1080p, and has a 4x zoom. It’s rated for up to 15 hours of talk time and 12.5 days of standby time.

Carphone Warehouse leaked, well, everything about the next Nexus smartphone

As writer Ernest Hamlin Abbott once put it, "rumors are not news; but they sometimes foreshadow news."

And, boy, have the rumors ever been stacking up concerning Google's next Nexus device, even though Google's expected to be saving any official news about it until their October 29 event.

Still, between the speculation that the new Android phone will be LG-made, the pictures, and even a premature review, we've already learned quite a bit about the upcoming Nexus 4.

And today, a new leak from retailer Carphone Warehouse revealed pretty much everything else, right down to the LG phone's specs, price and expected release date.

Advertising pre-orders for the phone, Carphone Warehouse has listed a price of £389.95. And their description boasts that the new smartphone has a 4.7" LCD display, and "the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet," Android OS 4.2 Jelly Bean, as well as some new features:

"Search gets smarter with Google Now. You ask. Google answers, instantly, and with all the detail you want... Stay in touch with Gesture Typing, a faster way of typing that lets you spell words by dragging your finger across the screen from letter to letter."

Meanwhile, Carphone Warehouse sets October 30 as the start date for delivery, just one day after Google's event. Though, after this last and possibly most comprehensive leak, there isn't much Google could tell us about their latest smartphone that we don't already know.

Now that the launch of the Surface tablet is history and the Windows 8 hoopla will be behind them today, Microsoft is revving up for their next event: release of the new devices that will run on Windows Phone 8. Lucky for all of us, Microsoft will live stream the event to be held in San Francisco on Monday, October 29th. Get ready for a broadcast at 10am PST.

Microsoft will also show off more Windows Phone 8 features like Xbox Music, new competition for Spotify and iTunes. “There are a whole series of…new capabilities and features that will come that we haven’t talked about and there’s integration with Windows 8 that we’ll demo closer to the date,” promises Greg Sullivan, Microsoft’s Windows Phone senior product manager.

Both product manufacturers and wireless providers have been announcing they'll be showing off a range of Windows Phone 8 devices at the event. The lineup includes HTC’s Windows Phone 8X and 8S, Samsung’s ATIV S, Nokia’s Lumia 820 and 920, and Verizon’s exclusive Nokia Lumia 822 (aka the Atlas). There’s also an outside possibility that ZTE will be there with a Windows Phone 8 device, too.

Hopefully Microsoft will be specific about shipment dates for Windows Phone 8 devices. So far, we've only heard that they will begin shipping in November.

In the meantime, Microsoft is showing its new Windows 8 to the world today.

If you've ever wanted to go ghost hunting, SpecTrek lets you chase spectres using your smartphone's GPS. The augmented reality game shows you "ghosts" on a map of your area and gives you a time limit to find and capture them.

It may be kind of silly, but hey, it's probably the most fun you'll ever have using a smartphone GPS.

3. Entity Sensor Pro app for Android

If virtual ghosts don't cut it for you, the Entity Sensor Pro app for Android claims to let you detect "real" ghosts using a supposed EMF sensor in your smartphone to check for "paranormal" readings.

It's essentially like playing Ghost Busters with a mobile device. Whether or not you actually believe in ghosts, the app has a pretty high rating among users.

And even if you think it's useless as a ghost detector, you can always use it with friends as a gullibility detector.

4. Ouija Board app for Android

Like so many classics, the Ouija Board has been revamped for modern mobile devices.

Use your smartphone to try making contact with the spirit world, or simply relive the fun of middle school with this Android app. In any case, it gives new meaning to "the ghost in the machine."

You can add a little eerie appeal to party pics with the Ghost Camera Pro smartphone app for Android.

The app lets you choose from a bunch of different types of ghosts and spirits (not just the cute kind pictured above) and insert them into pictures on your device. You can also edit the size, color and opacity of your ghosts.

We consider this more of a humor app, especially if some of some of your subjects have been going at the punch bowl hard.

The upcoming 2012 Presidential Election is likely to be more closely followed on mobile devices than any other in U.S. history. Voters will be keeping up with the election on their smartphones with polls and political news, as well as on social media.

But how, exactly, will smartphones figure into this election and, ultimately, who will smartphone owners be voting for?

Mashable reported on a new study from ad network Mojiva, which surveyed smartphone owners 18 and up to get answers to some of those questions.

According to Mojiva, people who use smartphones are more likely to vote for Obama on November 6. 47% of those polled said they identify themselves as Democrats, while only 28% identified themselves as Republicans.

Either way, 82% of respondents said they are planning to vote – a very high rate compared to the actual voter turnout for the past two elections which were below 60%.

In the lead-up to voting day, more Democrats than Republicans will be reading political news on their smartphones (63% vs. 59%), but more Republicans than Democrats will be researching the candidates (53% vs. 50%).

Come election day, over half of respondents said that they would be using an iPhone or an Android-powered smartphone to check results throughout the day.

But many of the respondents said they would use their phone to do even more if they could. When asked if they would use their smartphone to vote if they had the option to, 59% said they would, while a whopping 85% said they would at least consider doing so.

What about you? Do you plan on using your smartphone to follow the elections? If so, how? Let us know in the comments section.

Reddit hosted an “ask me almost anything” (AMAA) session with the Microsoft Surface development team last Tuesday (Oct. 16th), the same day the Surface tablet was available for pre-order. Mashable did a great job of summarizing the Q&A and posted a few details about the tablet that were heard from the developers for the first time. Some of their comments are summarized below.

Why would someone using an iPad want to change to the Surface tablet. What makes the Surface so amazing?

The Surface team said they have a vision for Surface. On it you can get “a ton of stuff done.” It has a full Windows operating system and can run the Office suite. The “seamless transitioning” from one user state to another with the touch cover, the ability to use it all day, and a USB port that creates endless connectivity possibilities all add up to a fully functional pc in a tablet form.

With Windows RT installed, how much many GBs of free space will be left?

After the OS, OfficeRT and a few apps are installed, they claimed that more than 20GB remains. Adding an SD card would also add space for music, movies and photos (though not apps.)

No 3G/4G option for the Surface

Even without 3G/4G, the team’s position is that the tablet design is still “world-class Wi-Fi connectivity.” They looked at specific elements of 3G/4G that they needed to include. Since the Surface would probably be used most often at home, their tablet sales data showed connectivity there would be one-third Wi-Fi and one-third mobile broadband. They also considered frequent usage at hotspots as part of the decision.

Using USB 2.0 instead of USB 3.0

The full size USB 2.0 port on Surface supports hundreds of millions of devices that are already being used so the network is already in place. Timing was factor, too. They chose USB 2.0 based on capability of the ARM SoCs during their development time frame.

Surface resolution that’s significantly less than new iPad’s

With the ClearType Display technology they’ve taken what they call a three-pronged approach to maximizing resolution while optimizing the device for battery life, weight, and thickness.

First, they believe Microsoft’s Cleartype 1.0 and 2.0 is the best pixel rendering technology in the industry because it smoothes text regardless of pixel count. The technology is exclusive and unique to Windows. Unofficially, the amount of light reflected off the display screen allowed by Cleartype is approximately 5.5% - 6.2%. The iPad's is a more glaring 9.9%

Third, the optically-bonded screen that has “the thinnest optical stack anywhere on the market - something which is more commonly done on phones but not on a tablet.

Surface RT pricing

The 10.6-inch Microsoft Surface Tablet will cost $499 for the 32GB model, up to $699 for the 64GB tablet. The Touch Cover keypad is an extra $119. If you want the Type Cover with real keys, add $129 to your budget.

Apple may have something to worry about. The Surface tablet has sold out of pre-orders in the U.S.

Pure Mobile's got you covered for Halloween with this list of creepy apps for iPhone and iPad

We at Pure Mobile love Halloween almost as much as we love mobile devices. And when the two come together, it's a high-tech house of horrors that we just can't resist.

If you're anything like us, you'll want to celebrate the scariest (and probably most fun) holiday of the year in all sorts of ways, and thanks to some creepy smartphone apps, you can take your Halloween spirit with you everywhere you go.

As Halloween quickly approaches, we at Pure Mobile are delighting in finding all the best iPhone, Android and BlackBerry apps for our frightening feature "Macabre goes Mobile."

Today's all about eerie iPhone apps, but Android and BlackBerry users can expect their own list of apps for those platforms in later instalments.

Use sound to scare anywhere a smartphone can go, with Halloween Sounds Pro

Once upon a time, when you wanted creepy Halloween sound effects to scare trick-or-treaters, you had to play them through a stereo. And the speakers aimed at the door were kind of a dead giveaway.

But with the free Halloween Sounds Pro app for iPhone, you get to control a bunch of spooky Halloween sounds from your smartphone. Sneak up on that unsuspecting teenager who looks just a little too old to be asking for candy, or set the delay to scare the hell out of someone after you've left the room.

The iDrakula app for iPhone does just that, retelling Bram Stoker's classic Dracula novel with a modern slant through text messages, voicemails, emails and browsers in language geared for the Twitter age.

iDrakula retells Bram Stoker's classic by sending texts, emails and other messages from the characters to your smartphone

You may get a "text" from a character telling you another chunk of the plot, so the juicy story not only unfolds on your smartphone, but has interactive elements and develops at surprise moments not of your own choosing.

Dark Haunts gives you directions on your phone to the nearest ghost-infested locations

Always itched to go ghost hunting?

The Dark Haunts app for iPhone claims to help you "find the closest 'real' haunted site near you."

Dark Haunts' database has over 3,200 haunted locations and is regularly adding new ones. They give you a bit of backstory, and direct you to the ghost-infested locations. You can also choose the type of haunt you want: a restaurant if you're hungry, a hotel if you want a creepy getaway.

Just don't go crying to the developers if you actually happen to run into a spectre.

While most of us are just trying to get our hands on one of the newest and best smartphones, Blendtec, a maker home and professional blenders is busy pulverizing them.

It's pretty much what it sounds like. With a few of these "Will it Blend?" YouTube videos under his belt already, Blendtec's Tom Dickinson asks the question again, pitting the "the latest," i.e. Apple's iPhone 5, vs. what Samsung "claims to be the greatest," the Galaxy S III.

The iPhone 5 may have a retina display, and the Galaxy S III may have a bigger screen, but which will withstand the blending?

Tom describes both smartphones, highlighting their most attractive features, and then unceremoniously chucks each into its own Blendtec Total blender.

While the iPhone 5 starts shattering pretty early on, the Galaxy S III holds in there for an impressive amount of time, but eventually meets its end in much the same way as the completely obliterated iPhone, in a pile of black powder.

In the end, as the blender lids are removed and toxic-looking black smoke wafts up, we're left having to agree with Tom, who concludes: "I think the real winner is the Blendtec Total blender."

The whole stunt kind of runs opposite to what we do at Pure Mobile. But even though we've got a mission to help people protect their devices, we can't help but get some sort of sick pleasure out of watching this total and utter destruction.

Though we'd have to agree with Blendtec's disclaimer: don't try this at home!